From the President

I have been President of the Microbiology Society for just over a year as I write this. In order to help reflect on how it has gone, I looked at the last four ‘From the President’ articles in Microbiology Today. One word jumps out from each of those articles – and from this one. That word is 'change'.

Over the last year, the Society has undergone many internal changes, both in staffing and in the ways its procedures work. The process of change is increasingly extending to the ways in which the Society interacts with its members, and some of these are described in this issue.

We have changed the membership categories from 2014, to reduce confusion and to better serve early-career researchers, those on lower incomes and those taking career breaks. We are also changing the grants we award from 2014. We have launched a new journal, JMM Case Reports, as a sister journal to the Journal of Medical Microbiology. We are also looking carefully at the diversity of our speakers in meetings, ensuring good gender representation and providing opportunities for early-career researchers. Over the coming year, you can expect a number of other exciting changes, which are currently in the pipeline. Further innovations may result from the Membership Survey, which the Society has been undertaking.

Of course, the major changes that affect us all are in our science. Many of us heard about some of the latest research at the excellent Autumn Conference in Sussex. This will be the last of these for a trial period of two years as we move to an Annual Spring Conference and a series of Focused Meetings. Events normally scheduled for the Autumn Conference, such as the Annual General Meeting and the Howard Dalton Young Microbiologist of the Year Competition will be delivered in a different way, to be announced soon. Ideas for Focused Meetings will be welcomed by the Scientific Conferences Committee.

Science always changes. Over the last few years, many of the exciting scientific developments have been in the areas broadly described as industrial biotechnology, one aspect of which is the contribution that microbiology can make to biofuels, described in this issue. Colin Miles from the BBSRC comments on the current and future funding landscape for industrial biotechnology research, an area of high priority for UK Government funding.

The people who help the Society also change. We have three new members of Council and new members of our Committees and Divisions. Bringing new (or in some cases recycled!) blood to the Society structures refreshes our thinking and our planning. It is notable that most of the individuals helping the Society in this way are from Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). I am keen that we also have good representation from industry, public bodies and NGOs, for example. Ad hoc members can be appointed when additional expertise is required. If you wish to help the Society in this way, please contact me.

From this issue, Laura Bowater has taken over from Paul Hoskisson as Editor of Microbiology Today. I am grateful to Paul for his conscientious and innovative editorship and welcome Laura to take MT forwards.

Nigel L. Brown

President
Email: [email protected]